Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemVisual assessment techniques for rural road management(University of Melbourne, 1989)
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ItemThe role of self-reliance in small communities( 1986)This "action-research" study is about the relationship of appropriate technology and community self-reliance. This is investigated through a series of field experiments in earth construction, in particular, earth roofing technology in the form of dome and vault because Nepal (the focus of the study) has a problem of deforestation which has contributed to the problems of roofing for the poor. The first experiment carried out in Maryborough, Victoria in early 1982 showed that a building could be built almost entirely out of earth with voluntary participation in a week and at a minimum cost. This project led to several interesting follow-up activities towards local self-reliance in Australia. Following the Maryborough Project, a second experiment was carried out in late 1982 in Deurali. Panchayat (West Nepal) where the project ran into several difficulties such as basic building materials like water, sand and good quality earth were difficult to obtain; people were not eager about earth construction which was looked down upon as an inferior form of construction; people's voluntary participation both in labour and in materials was poor; author's misunderstanding about the local culture led to the spirit possession of a villager; the waterproofing materials of lime, salt and fat were not easily available nor were they adequate for the heavy rains in the area. The dome failed two times. The earth roofing technology was found to be inappropriate to that culture. A detailed investigation of local self-reliance of one village of 24 households showed that local self-reliance was a complex issue in which many indigenous technologies such as the scythe and a rice husking device (Ahiki) were helping the very poor to be locally self-reliant. After an extensive village dialogue, a small village level project of facilitating local skills and indigenous technologies, namely the hand-loom, mat-making (Chakati) and the animal husbandry project, was found to nurture its self-reliance. This new finding of the importance of indigenous technologies as against "appropriate technologies" for local self-reliance has been further explained. in the light of current literature, practical experiences and case studies from Nepal. A PARFITS model for local self-reliance is discussed where indigenous technology is seen as a "political technology". The model is found to be particularly relevant to Nepalese conditions. Hence it is concluded that the introduction of an "appropriate technology" into a small rural subsistence community does not necessarily lead to its local self-reliance. On the other hand, in such communities, the facilitating of people's local skills and indigenous technologies based on "participatory action-research" has been found to nurture local self-reliance of the very poor.
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ItemChange assessment in the post-war Mount Macedon landscape( 1986)Areas of scenic amenity close to urban centres, such as the Macedon Ranges and surrounds north-west of Melbourne, are increasingly exposed to land use conflicts. Residential developments and corresponding infrastructures oppose outdoor leisure activities of non-residents as well as the conservation of natural resources including water supply. As the trend of the demographic turnaround in rural areas is likely to continue, multiple land-use concepts necessarily have to adopt a fine balance between development and conservation based upon accurate information of space-time relationships. However, the fundamental understanding of change processes remains elusive. Studies dealing with landscape are static by using fragmentary descriptions. Systematic land-use reports are often confined to the single issue of land cover rather than placing the results into perspective of related environmental parameters. The base material for systematic monitoring of objects of spatial and temporal dimensions must be unbiassed and provide the consistency necessary for the defined area and periods. This leaves one reliable data source in the form of aerial photographs, which have a proven history of providing accurate, fast and inexpensive interpretation results over large areas. An arbitrary 25 ha-grid, which provides a common, cell basis for different data sets, is superimposed on the 282 km2 of the study area. The manual interpretation applies an overlay technique for assessing the quantitative and temporal manifestations of selected individual landscape artifacts (buildings, roads, dams and timber) on sequential aerial photographs of 1946, 1969, 1979 and 1985. The artifact developments are later regrouped, indexed and cross-tabulated with natural, social, economic and planning characteristics by statistical computer programs in order to evaluate change within the environment. The applied procedures provide significant insights into landscape change and they are potentially a flexible instrument for monitoring the effectiveness of planning decisions.
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ItemConstruction project cash flow modelling( 1986)The thesis investigates construction project cash flows. It is divided into two main components. The first investigates the cumulative gross cash flow profiles (S curves), and the second examines the cumulative net cash flow profiles. The gross cash flow model can be used by either construction industry clients or contractors, whereas the net cash flow model concerns the contractor. Interest in construction project cash flows resulted from changed economic pressures in the 1970s. A rise in inflation was associated with increased client attention to his gross cash flows to the contractor, and similarly higher interest rates had the effect that contractors became concerned with their net cash flows. An examination of the gross cash flow literature found that most models were aimed at discovering generally applicable ideal curves. A similar situation existed within the net cash flow literature. It was argued that the averaging approach is unsuitable for construction project cash flow research, and consequently an approach which concentrates on the individual project was pursued. A gross cash flow model was developed using logistic transformation regression procedures. This yielded excellent results for post-hoc analysis of individual project data. Furthermore the gross cash flow model was found to be suitable for the generation of a construction project net cash flow model, which was similarly oriented towards the post-hoc analysis of single projects. A measure of deviation was used which enabled the identification of projects for which the gross cash flow model was a poor fit. This same procedure was used to exclude projects from the net cash flow analysis. The results from the gross cash flow model analysis indicate that projects do vary considerably from one to another, and this supports the contention made that an individual approach to this research is necessary. The net cash flow model yields an excellent trend line for net cash flow on a project, and thus provides an excellent means for senior management to judge the quality of management employed on a project
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ItemEnvironmentalism and land-use planning( 1985)This dissertation considers the research question: Can land-use planning attain the goals of environmentalism? The research question instigates the development of models for environmentalism and land-use planning, test of their congruence, analysis of institutional means to join them, case study of the specific method of lifestyle zoning for Nature conservation, international comparisons, and suggestions for the implementation of the ideology of environmentalism by the techniques of land-use planning. An applied planning orientation guides methods from political science, sociology, anthropology and geography to structure the theoretical and empirical studies. Comparison among the industrially advanced anglophone countries of Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States of America enable cross-cultural insight into environmentalism, land-use planning, and measures for the protection of dedicated areas. The evaluation of the fit between the environmentalism and land-use planning, considers their origins, values, operating principals, programs and problems. This social-policy analysis reveals substantial concurrence, particularly regarding concern for the unintended consequences of technical and social policies, human interaction with the physical environment, care in resource use, urban and Nature conservation, the importance of open space, rational forethought, the long-term, regional view, environmental diversity, government intervention, need for co-ordination in government, use of experts, citizen participation, self-actualization, equity, and generic as well as substantive definition of the fields by their supporters. The ideological outline of contemporary environmental planning provides a framework for detailed analysis of the case study of an "Environmental Living Zone" on the fringe of urban Melbourne, Australia. Historical research, interpretation of planning schemes, maps and aerial photographs, interviews, and observation provided insight into the social and environmental factors in residential conservation. From the empirical and theoretical analyses, the work suggests implications for practitioners- and directions for further research.
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ItemDecision-making in a coincidence anticipation task( 1985)Decision-making in a coincidence anticipation task was investigated in a series of experiments. An experimental task was devised with a series of lights on two runways at right angles to one another. A subject was required to initiate a series of lights on one runway to intercept another set of lights set off by the Experimenter on the other runway. The velocities of the lights (2.563, 3.365 and 4.115 m/sec) initiated by the Experimenter were a combination of constant and variable velocities. The velocity of the subject's series of lights was set at a constant 6.754 m/sec. Both male and female subjects of the ages of 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 years were used in the study. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of subject age, sex, target velocity and presentation order of the velocities on decision-making performance in a coincidence anticipation task. It was found that the age of the subjects and target velocity significantly influenced performance. The data analyses also provided results which required further research in the areas of velocity discrimination and the presentation order of the target velocities. The results of the 7 and 9 year old subjects suggested that they were less efficient decision-makers than the older subjects due to an inability to discriminate between the velocities. A research paradigm was developed in which 28 paired comparison trials were presented to subjects of the ages of 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 years. An investigation of the effect of age and velocity on the ability to discriminate between the velocities was undertaken. A developmental effect was found in that the 5 year old subjects were the least successful, the 7 and 9 year old subjects the next least successful, and the 11 to 17 year old subjects the most successful in discriminating between linear velocities. The velocity of the stimulus had a significant effect; when a fast velocity was presented second in the trial presentation, it was discriminated successfully on a significant number of occasions in comparison to other paired velocity combinations, and in addition, the greater the difference between the velocities for comparison, the greater the success in discriminations. The order in which the target velocities were presented to the subjects was investigated, using the earlier experimental task, to determine whether the development of a perceptual schema influenced decision-making. Using the same target velocities as before, three presentation orders were devised; a Control group practised under a constant target velocity condition, and two Experimental groups practised under either an 'easy-to-difficult' or a 'difficult-to-easy' sequence of target velocities in both constant and variable velocity conditions. It was found that the 'easy-to-difficult' sequence of target velocities in the Practice Phase facilitated the most efficient decisions in the Test Phase in comparison to the other two presentation orders. In general, it was found that subjects below the age of 11 years were less efficient decision-makers in tasks requiring coincidence anticipation due primarily to their inability to discriminate successfully between the target velocities. It was also found that a graduated approach to the introduction of target velocity, complexity facilitated the development of the perceptual schema which in turn enhanced decision-making in a coincidence anticipation task.